Tyres are the Focus after a Tough at the Perth SuperSprint
May 8, 2016
Track: Barbagallo Raceway
Race: Perth SuperSprint
Date: May 8th 2016
No. 12 MTU Ford – Fabian Coulthard
Qualifying: P 5 - Fastest Lap 55.17
Race 2: P 15
No. 17 MTU Ford – Scott Pye
Qualifying: P 18 - Fastest Lap 55.47
Race 2: P 19
Recap Race 2: The final race of the Perth SuperSprint proved a tough outing for the MTU Fords of Fabian Coulthard and Scott Pye. Coulthard had a good run in qualifying to start in fifth position while Pye was unable to match it after some changes to the car proved to be in the wrong direction.
Coulthard ran well early and was well inside the Top 10, and was one of the last to make his first Pit Stop on Lap 26. The team would run the No 12 MTU Ford on a two stop strategy but tyre life was not good enough to keep him in the top group. With others moving up on fresh tyres Fabian finished in fifteenth.
Pye was an early stopper and was to run a three stop strategy. He settled into the Top 15 but could not break out of that area of the field as he too experienced tyre drop off, finally finishing in nineteenth.
Fabian Coulthard Quote: "The start was pretty wild. I had good momentum in the MTU Ford and had to keep going to get by Frosty otherwise it would have cost us more spots.
"We really struggled at the last part of each stint for tyre life and it ultimately cost us a result. There was a couple of times when I also got bottled up with cars on different strategies so that added to the tyre woes. It is not a great day as we aimed to finish well inside the Top 10 after qualifying in fifth. We tried our best but today our best was not good enough."
Scott Pye Quote: "Today’s race was looking like we could make a good recovery from our Qualifying position. I felt the tyre life in the early stints was pretty good. When we switched to the final set at the last stop we thought that would be the best we had for the run home. Unfortunately the pace never really came and the tyres for whatever reason were slower than the mixed set we had used previously.
"The final stint was disappointing and we did not have the pace to move up. We need to get back to the workshop and de brief to get ready for Winton."